Dutch Won`t Allow Women On Warships

October 7, 1986|By Joan Clements, The London Daily Telegraph

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- The Netherland government`s plan that women should be fully integrated into the navy serving on board warships is not working, according to the Dutch navy chief of staff, Vice Adm. C. Brainich von Brainich Felth.

The vice admiral is putting it all down to hormones. ``It is simply a hormone question,`` he said during a recent speech to a trades organization lunch.

``But we will loyally abide by a political decision,`` he added. The vice admiral`s remarks on women in the navy comes at a time when their presence appeared to be accepted. Three women sailors were commissioned as officers the day after his remarks.

Women are currently serving on warships. There was an outcry from sailor`s wives when the plan to allow women to serve at sea was first proposed by the government. The wives claimed the presence of women on board threatened their marriages.

However, a senior marine officer summed up the case for women sailors when he said, ``A good marriage can`t be a good marriage if it falls apart because you`ve been working near women for a few weeks or even months. Anyway, there are far more opportunities on shore for starting affairs if you feel the need to. We are far too busy working on board when at sea.``

The Dutch government wants the navy to go ahead with the integration of women on sea-going ships and a report compiled after the first women went to sea in 1982 concluded that they had been hardworking members of the crew and their presence had caused no abnormal tensions.

Women have been at sea for a long time as crew members of the merchant navy.

One woman sailor said many of her colleagues were less than pleased with the vice admiral`s remarks.

``The section within the navy which disapproves of women on board do so mainly because they see the navy as the last male bastion, as it is in Britain, and have been casting around for reasons to get us off ships. They could not find fault with our work and the government decided to ignore some navy wives` complaints that we were threatening their marriages, but now they have found, or rather discovered something -- hormones.``

Women also are being fully integrated into the Dutch army and air force.